Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski strikes me as a guy who who wouldn't admit to the media he likes eating chocolate cake.
He's just not a baseball executive who likes to commit to much of anything during hot stove season.
So seeing a tweet from @official_tigers confirming the Tigers' offer to outfielder Johnny Damon was nearly as surprising as the comments that came out of Dombrowski's media session moments later.
As quoted by the Detroit News' Tom Gage:
"First of all, he's a good player, who would help us from an offensive standpoint," said Dombrowski, the Tigers' president and general manager. "He's another left-hand bat, and he's been a winner.
"He's been a good player."
This is so outside the Tigers' norms that I do not even know how to react to it.
I suppose it means absolutely nothing. But it is curious to see such love espoused before a press conference. When a deal is in the works, Dombrowski typically keeps it close to the vest and denies knowledge of anything at all.
But maybe he's just trying to even the ledger of compliments with Damon's agent, Scott Boras, who professes Johnny's love for all things Detroit, from Stevie Yzerman to the Red Wings to eating an octopus. As someone put it, Boras left out Johnny's enjoyment of ice cold Vernor's ginger ale while having a Saunders hot fudge sundae. Or maybe he's more of a Stroh's guy, I don't know. It would fit the caveman theme, anyway.
So maybe Damon is already a Tiger. Or maybe the Tigers are just trying to signal to the fans they are still trying to get better, so be sure to get your seven-game ticket package before individual games go on sale.
Or maybe today's addition to Johnny Damon Watch 2010 means nothing at all.
More quotes from Dombrowski on the matter clear things up only in such they add more questions to the mystery.
"Yeah, I do," Dombrowski said when asked if he has any idea when it will end, "but I'm not really ready to say that, because I don't want you guys calling me every hour or every three minutes. I have an idea."
Dombrowski cautioned, though, that no deal is imminent. Damon would have to undergo a physical before completing any deal.
"We're not at that juncture," Dombrowski said. "I don't think anybody else is."
Well, it sure sounds like the Tigers are in the driver's seat, although I don't think that was really ever in doubt.
By the way, why all the sudden Damon speculation out of Detroit. As we surmised, this is spurred by owner Mike Ilitch.
Dombrowski said the roster appeared set around the holidays, but Ilitch stepped in and the market allowed for the Tigers to see what else could be done.
